25 years ago, Q magazine released its Essential Chill Out CD. I appreciate that to anyone who is 25 years old or younger, the notion of a Compact Disc is as twee as a pair of snuggling kittens, and ‘Essential Chill Out’ is just a playlist alongside ‘Not So Important Chill Out’ on the military drone-investing Spotify. Anyway, back in the day, the Q CD was a revelation. It managed to combine the likes of Moby and Underworld with Nick Drake and Fairport Convention, and it all flowed beautifully and congruously as we lit our joss sticks and ignored our rudimentary internet.
Mae Powell’s second album Making Room for The Light reminds me of listening to Fairport Convention’s ‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes?’ (How ironic.) It’s 1969, and we’re all going to San Francisco with flowers in our hair. Powell is already there, as that’s where she’s from. When we arrive, she will supply us with extra daisies and lovely melodies. Everything is love and peace. Kittens snuggle in a sarcasm-free world.
“My heart is a tangerine / That I left in the bottom of my bag,” Powell sings on ‘Tangerine’, and she doesn’t sound entirely devastated about this fruit-based predicament. Her heart is also apparently ‘a rotten apple’ and ‘a forgotten strawberry’. If any primary school teachers are looking for lovesick poetry prompts, they need look no further. Powell says that single ‘Where Will Love Go?’ was inspired by “a really big break up…I was used to putting all of my love and attention into one person, and then when that person was no longer around, I felt overwhelmed by all of the love and care that no longer had a place to go.” Over an ascending chord progression and Amy Winehouse-like guitar licks, she details how she might distribute her newly-available abundance of love.
‘It Comes in Waves’ sounds so much like Fairport Convention, you’ll spend the whole track waiting for Sandy Denny to make a guest appearance. First single ‘Rope You’, released last March, is like stepping into a smoky jazz club, saying hello to the regulars with your eyes, ordering the usual with a nod. ‘Meet Me in a Memory’ ambles along like a gentle Pink Panther, and ‘Moonlit Power’ is the house band at Hotel California leading everyone into a waltz.
Back in the chill out ‘quiet is the new loud’ days, Kings of Convenience captivated many an idle and idealistic student with their beguiling arpeggios and hushed vocals. On ‘Invisibly’, Powell forgoes all jazz accompaniments and picks an acoustic guitar and sings as if she’s recording in a flat share at midnight. However, on following track ‘Contact High’, she channels her inner Supremes and shimmies back into the spotlight. It’s a bit Burt Bacharach and a modicum of Mamas and Papas. It should be adopted by the Californian Tourist Board, but will no doubt be used to sell mobile phones.
‘Linger’ has nothing to do with The Cranberries or fruity metaphors – rather, it’s like a thrillingly subdued Sheryl Crow. A song to play when you’re too done in with the world but want to enjoy your own sadness. On ‘Hot Headed’, Powell speculates why her friends stick around despite her rashness, and she calms down on final track ‘Again’ with the help of some Beach House organ.
It’s been said that ‘Making Room for The Light is as much an album title as it is Mae Powell’s artist manifesto.’ It’s a manifesto we can all subscribe to. So, let’s add our signatures, thread flowers through our hair, and lean into the light.
Making Room for The Light is out now via Karma Chief/Colemine Records
Mae Powell: Bandcamp |Instagram
Review by Neil Laurenson
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